Wizards of 'Warts Part Two
by CleverforClever
Summary: Jalex at Hogwarts. Harry returns for the rest of the semester to fight the Russos in the Triwizard Tournament. Justin is a champion, and Alex is afraid she will lose him. Beginning of Part Two. AU past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The Missing Boy

Alex was sitting next to Hermione in the stands, watching proudly as Justin took to the stage. He was beaming with energy. Beside him stood Harry, just as excited that his friend had won the wizard tournament. Dumbledore was praising him, and decided to hand Justin his wand, amplifying the young man's voice.

"Attention please," said Justin speaking to the silent crowd. "I'd like for you to meet my sister Alex." A spotlight blinded her momentarily, and she stood to listen. "This is my sister. Isn't she pretty? Isn't she popular? Doesn't everybody love her? But here's something you don't know: she is a horrible person."  
>The crowd booed her, and he continued, "She is not just vain, selfish, dumb, and manipulative. What makes Alex truly evil is that people love her, truly and deeply, and all she does is use that love, hurt them, and abuse them until they have nothing left." Mason appeared on his left, nodded emphatically. Harper came from behind Justin, holding his hand.<p>

Her friend was no kinder, "What kind of friend are you anyways? You don't deserve Justin, you don't deserve anyone…." With that, the stadium was empty, leaving Alex alone with Justin. She was in her wizard suit, trying to run to him, when the tornado appeared. As hard as she was running, it was still catching up to her. She reached her brother when it swept her off her feet. She held out her hand to Justin, who simply flinched, and let her go.

Alex was whipped about, falling, falling until… THUD! She collided with her bedroom floor. She panted hard, knowing it had just been another nightmare.

Justin was gone. He had left his little sister alone to go on his round the world wizard trip. It was her fault he left, and she knew it. There was nothing she could do to prove she was not evil, that she was not hurt he had abandoned her, that it was not her problem that he had left. After their disastrous vacation to the Caribbean made it obvious that Alex had learned how to cross lines, the family had turned on her.  
>The question now seemed to revolve around what to do with her.<p>

She had been grounded pretty severely when they got back. No phone, (so she could not call Harper) no friends over, (Harper was the only one coming over anyways) and no fun of any kind. Alex had been given Justin's shifts. More than four times the work and less than a fourth of the fun made her miserable. Of course, she could not complain. If she had not done all the horrible things she had done, they could have had a nice vacation. Now she had to live with the guilt.

Across the world, Harry was suffering from a similar problem. Although an only child, he too, was suffering from nightmares on the tasks.

But his fears revolved around Lord Voldemort….

Chapter 2 Days of Dilemma

Alex went about her daily routine; get up, abuse magic, abuse magic again, meet up with Harper, avoid detention by abusing magic, get caught doing something wrong, abuse magic to get out of it.

It was boring. Nobody could stop her. Sure, Max would do what their father instructed, but he was not as good at fixing things; Harper was proof as this as she spent the week with purple hands. Luckily, people thought it was just another fashion thing.

Alex could not admit how much she missed Justin. Adding to her sense of depression was the fact that she felt like someone had been watching her lately. There were ways to avoid detection, but she knew from one of her father's rants that wizard homes were protected against outside scrying. Apparently, that meant you could not use magic to eaves-drop on other wizards.

She thought, faintly, that it may be Justin checking up on her. That thought sent the chills on her spine to their proper place; goose-bumps. He cared, he must still care. But then she would hear the Voice, "If he cared so much, why would he leave." It would hiss to her every night as she was going to sleep for a week.  
>She ignored it, and it had not come back the last few months.<p>

She got home from school, excited like a little schoolgirl. Justin mentioned that today would be the earliest day he could return. Of course, he was probably back already, completely bored after greeting his mother and father, and now dully playing with his dolls. Alex flashed to her room, brushed her hair quickly, and rushed through the house, only to hear he was not back yet. So she laid herself on the couch and waited, and waited. Of course, she had a shift, so she changed herself into her work clothes, threw her hair into a quick ponytail, and sat downstairs waiting for him. As soon as she could, Alex clocked out, took a shower making sure her hair was clean. She thought it funny if he came home and she ran out and tackled him. The idea brought a blush to her cheeks.

She dressed up tonight. Not her usual clothes, no tights, no pants nor peace symbols. A simple dress that flowed nicely, and was a decent length too, so he would not complain about her showing off. She waited long after her family went to bed.

He never came.

The next day, she did the same thing.

Justin entered the trophy room right behind Harry.

"There it is, the famous Goblet of Fire. I've no idea what the second task is, but the third is simple; and always the same; race to the cup," the look in Justin's eyes was just like Cedric's, insanely hungry, like the cup held the secrets of life and death.

Harry felt intense fear. The cup, in his mind, was a source of danger. All these tasks had been assembled to challenge young wizards, and the champions were required to put their lives on the line. Justin was alone for once. This granted Harry the first time in days to talk to him alone. The two had become fast friends. Lately though, the Russo boy had been aloof.

He had written Alex a letter which would reach her soon. He was baffled by Justin's lack of desire to return home hit close to his heart. They had discussed Voldemort often lately. Generally Justin would use the same phrase over and over, "You understand him so well, but there is so much you still don't understand everything." He sounded so much like Dumbledore, it drove Harry nuts.

Justin would go to the trophy room and stare at the cup for hours. He would skip meals, even sleep, obsessing on the next task. Cedric was worse. The other two champions seemed too confident to drop by. Viktor was busy trying to convince someone to be his second, but everyone was too afraid after what happened to the first. Fleur did not seem to require anything from anybody, and was barely ever seen not criticizing everything. Hermione mentioned she even whined while in the girl's bathroom. Harry focused on his own problems though. Justin was champion since Ronald had his eye gouged. He would name his second.

Harry, was of course wondering what was in the package Justin gave him to send to Waverly Place.

The Yuletide Ball was approaching, and Harry was as underprepared as ever.

Chapter 3 Arrivals

Tonight was really bad. Justin was supposed to have been back by now. The parents had taken Max out to distract him. Of course, they could have done that by giving him a shiny penny. Then again, he would likely sallow that penny, so maybe taking him to see an aardvark singing about togetherness was a better plan. Harper had a date of with Zeke, which left Alex alone, in the dark, again.

It was okay, though. She was finishing up some work on a couple of her schemes. It was so boring though. She had gone through absurd amounts of trouble to keep him with her, but it seemed as though he was making her grow up. Had he not promised to stay here, to never leave her, only to break that promise when he was sucked away?

Deciding that she was officially out of things to do, she finished her homework and headed to the lair. She could not believe she caught up on her schoolwork. It was a bad sign. Of course, it gave her time to work on something she had wanted to do for a long time.

She knew which spell she wanted to practice, "Expecto Patronum!" She yelled angrily, nothing resulted from the memory of pulling a prank on her dad. _Okay_, she thought to herself, _happy thoughts, happy thoughts…_ but nothing happy would come until her brother got back.

Then the power went out.

She sighed, "Lumos," And checked on the power box. If the lair was malfunctioning, how could she keep her wand lit?

The feeling of being watched came upon her again. Justin would know what to do. His answer would restore power and bring order to her life. Alex could almost hear his voice in her head, 'what does logic tell us?'

Logic was his devoted girlfriend, and would never betray him. The power is not working, so magic would not fix this. The lights were out, but her powers were not, so…. Someone had shut out the lights, likely a form of magic, which meant someone was trying to sneak in.

Or she was being paranoid. She used magic to change into her pajamas and crawled into Justin's bed. She had made a habit of creeping into his room when she could not get to sleep. It made her feel safe, and she needed that right now.

Justin could be dead, or captured by someone evil. Maybe he was angry at Alex, did not care about her, or even think about her anymore. She tried to get herself to stop going down this path, but the silence condemned her. If he still loved her, he would be there right now, tell her she was wrong.

A creak behind her jump-started her weary heart, a flash of red eyes adding to her fears.

"Alex… are you okay?" Came Justin's soft voice. He was there, flesh and blood. She ran to him, and through her arms around him. He squeezed back, but gently. She was crying a load of complete nonsense angry she had been abandoned, happy he was back, scared he did not love her, and just waiting for him to reassure her. His smell flooded her nose like she had inhaled under-water. It was overpowering. He tasted like wild woods, wizard homes, faintly of feathers, foreign villages and foods. Underneath all that was what she knew. He was there, really there.

And he did so perfectly. He clutched her to him, and whispered his love, kissing her on top of her head, and whispering more. It was exactly what she needed, that, and a huge pile of gifts.

But Justin was different. His hair was combed to the side, and he was wearing a suit under his black and green travel robes. There were some new scars across his face, and he was wearing a ring. It was like a stranger in her bedroom. Then he told her everything would be okay, and that things would go back to the way they were before. Justin petted her hair the way she liked, and carried her back to bed.

She felt sweet relief sweep over her. He was back, they were safe, and their family was whole. He would stay with her. He tucked her into bed, and promised to set by her side. Alex cuddled against him, listening to his promises of remaining with her no matter what. He told her he thought about her every night, dreamt about coming back every day, and he would never let her get hurt.

Too bad he was lying.

Harry was ecstatic, Justin, Alex and Max were back. He ran up, giving two of them a big hug. Then had come in from a fireplace, and were excited to come back. The Yuletide ball was the next night, and Alex promised to go to the Vanity Room with Ginny and Hermione.

Ron, thanks to some prodding from Justin, had asked the bushy haired girl to the ball. There was already a great deal of interest in the next task. Mr. and Mrs. Russo had come along to keep an eye on Alex. To Harry's surprise, she was determined to stay with Justin, who was called to the headmaster's office with Viktor. They were both informed that they needed partners to compete

The champions seemed to find one another amongst the struggling crowd. They stood in a circle the seemed to project a field repelling admirers. Then Dumbledore announced the champions one by one and summoned them to the front.

There was some interest in who would step in as Viktor's second, but even more over who would be Justin's. The champions stood at the bottom of the steps, awaiting their dates. Ginny looked stunning. She was accompanied by Justin, who bowed to greet her. He took her hand following Cedric. Alex drew a great deal of wolf-whistles. She kept herself focused on her date.

They danced for a few minutes before realizing that they would both rather be with someone else. Harry thought the American Girl was a bit too aggressive, and Alex found Harry disturbingly polite. It did not take very much to convince him to help her break up the dance. Threatening him with a hicky was surprisingly effective.

Harry dipped her, allowing Alex to draw her wand from her boot. His hand went into the right sleeve of his robe, drawing his own.

"This static is too mild, with a shock, let's get wild," Alex zapped Cedric, who glowed bright red, then shocked Fleur upon grasping her. Of course, everyone wanted to dance with the champions, so the zapping continued, though obviously losing its strength.

Alex grinned. Her plan would work once one of the many boys interested in Ginny touched her. She turned to see the girl pulling Justin's wand out of the back of his dress robes. Although she could not hear him, she knew from experience that he was using the counter spell. Positive and negative energy was rippling through the party with increasing strength. Dumbledore was conscious of it, but clearly enjoyed the show of magic.

Destruction ran rampant, Alex's specialty. Being careful to avoid those charged, Harry and Alex made their way to Justin and Ginny. Of course the counter-spell was affecting those it hit.  
>It had started with Viktor's new partner, a masculine-looking girl who, upon getting zapped, flung herself into his arms, flailing wildly. Harry shook his head in empathy, but pressed towards his red-headed goal. Apart from the chaos, fights, and undesirable touching, which was typical of teenagers in any setting, things were going according to plan.<p>

Then, as always, the situation took a drastic turn for the worse. It began with Max, who realized that he could build a current using different charge people. He used a quick charm to separate the crowd, which quickly became energized. The positive and negative halves, which happened to be people, came crashing together at the end of the song. Max stood on top of the pile, boast that he had won the dance.

Harry and Alex did not have the heart to tell him otherwise, or the strength.

Chapter Three: the Finest Wizard

"The second task," Boomed Dumbledore, "will now commence." The champions, and their seconds, were standing in a row. The crowd was shocked to see Justin's second, Alex.

She beamed at the crowd from the rows of cheers and boos. She ignored her troublesome mind, which brought to the forefront her nightmare. _Justin is here, and he won't hurt me, _she thought to herself. Her brother stood beside her and went through the plan again. Her heart pounded in her ears. Amazingly, he was speaking as plainly as possible, letting his geek bone take a rest.

"Alright, we have to open the obelisk," A look of confusion crossed her face, "The big rock building is the obelisk," She nodded, he continued, "according to the clue from the last task, there is a orb of some sort at the top that will help us find the Cup. It looks like we need to use magic to open it. I have to be the one to deal with the other champions, you have to be the one to get the obelisk open. I trust you Alex, you can do this. Whatever you do," He said, crouching at the starting line, "Don't expose yourself to any unnecessary risks."  
>Of course, Alex ignored him. She sped up the incline next to other participants. Luckily, there were between Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, who both relied more on getting their objective taken care of than making life more difficult for their opponents. Alex leapt to the stone wall. There was a wand engraved on the side. To her left, Fleur was pressing her wand to it, concentrating hard. Alex mimicked the poster, but nothing happened. Behind her, Justin was standing vigilant to defend her. Nothing happened, so she called for her brother. He averted his gaze and studied it for a moment.<p>

He came to a conclusion quickly. Turning back, he told her she could do it, and nothing else.

_Thank you, Justin, for reminding me that I have no idea what I'm doing, nerd._

Of course, if he was right, and she figured he was, then she could do it. But, just because she could do something, did not mean she would. But this time, she would do what she did best, make it up as she went along.

What did Justin always say about being a wizard? She closed her eyes, focused all her powers, the pops of curses sounded around her. Nothing else came to mind but the task in front of her. She fell into Justin's role just like when he became a monster hunter.

_I can do this….._

_I can't do this_! Harry screamed silently in his head, deflecting curses. Cedric was focusing on his wand, and the glow that connected it to the obelisk. The stone shuddered.

Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were already farther ahead, and Alex let out a shriek as her side started to glow. Viktor bellowed as his burst opened. At first, it sounded like a triumphant yell, then Harry realized that something bad had happened.

Not dragons again, he thought to himself. It was something much more exotic. Colorful creatures on four legs crawled out, alarming each of the champions. They were a rainbow of colors, with round heads, long necks, and flailing limbs.

Harry turned to Cedric, "Do you have any clues what those things are?" He did not. It appeared as though Viktor had no clue either. It was a bad sign when two of the champions did not know what they were dealing with. To Harry's surprise, Alex squealed with delight.

"_Bountiful_!" The French champion shrieked happily. Gabrielle launched herself into the oncoming flood of creatures with glee.

Justin recited an entry from some book about 'bountiful' liking girls and children and girls. "Innocence attracts them," He muttered nervously, looking at Alex, who could not understand what he was saying, "Guilt and darkness…" Viktor's partner was swarmed by the Bountiful, tossing her up in the air with significant force. They snarled at the champion himself, who blasted curse after curse to protect himself. Apparantly all the dark arts taught at Durmstrang attracted their fury.

The Beauxbatons had reached the inside of the obelisk, and were being helped up graciously by a line of eager Bountiful. Harry saw how far they were ahead, and told himself to find something good and wholesome inside himself. That voice from the imperious curse told him to start blasting away, but he ignored it.  
>"Expecto Patronum," He screamed. The Bountiful horde screamed with delight. They followed the stag, chattering happily.<p>

"Justin, help!" He heard Alex shriek. Harry glanced back to see Alex take the ring off her brother's finger, and hurtle it away. The angry bountiful followed it with savagery. Then, seeing what Harry had done, cried, "Expecto Patronum!"

Chapter 4

A beautiful wolf burst forth, produced from the tip of Alex's wand. She saw harry using his stag to clear a path for himself and Cedric. Not one to be out-done, Alex crowd-surfs the Bountiful to the Obelisk. She climbed inside, joining the race to the top. Harry was joined by Cedric, who followed by Justin. The inside started to shift, making it difficult for anyone to get anywhere. Alex ran as quickly as possible, noticing that the top of the spire was glowing. Gabrielle was inches from it, when suddenly, she flew backwards. Her sister leapt from her handhold, grabbing the smaller girl. Alex passed them in the mess of rungs, sore from her climb already. She sighed, reaching for her goal. She removed the glowing object. It was warm, ball-shaped, and looked just like the cup. She removed it from its stand, and took off. Her brother was dueling Viktor and Fleur both. All three seemed determined to hex the other, and nothing but a small war could deter them.

Harry appeared in front of her, spouted, 'expelliarmus' and collected the object. He started running down the side of the rungs, which was incredibly dangerous. Viktor's second came barreling towards the boy, crushing him against the side of the building, leaving Gabrielle to grab the object and race to the bottom.  
>Thinking quickly, Alex used the 'pillows for feet spell' and jumped. She used the summoning charm to call the ball to her while racing to the judges' stand. She was determined to get there first, only to have Harry beat her. Following came Cedric, who looked tired beyond all belief, followed by the Durmstrang team.<p>

Justin and Fleur came in last. Due to the fact that they were last to have their own team assembled last, points were deducted. Alex, though, thought it was great. She had gotten the ball, and Justin was getting screamed at in French.

"I saw you, monsieur, you attacked Gabriellle!" the older sister screamed. Alex could not believe her. Her Justin would never attack a little girl. Besides, she was sure that he had enough imagination to know how to deal with the situation that did not have to do with attacking anyone. It bothered her she could not remember what he had been doing at that moment.

Justin had left. He had run off to find some Bountiful smashed his ring with a rock. He looked at his sister sourly, slipped it back on, and left. Gabrielle glared at him, and Alex noticed that the Bountiful in the tower did not help him. May he did curse the girl….

Alex shook her head, knowing there was no way Justin would go all dark side on her. Harry tapped her shoulder, inviting himself to the victory party.

The standings of this round were:

Wiztech

Beauxbatons

Hogwarts

Durmstrang

Of course, the numbers were so close this round, that the American school was the rival to the English one. Alex knew that the coming weeks would be filled with tension, that the two of them having fun together would be frowned upon, and that Justin and Cedric would spend more time than ever in the trophy room. There was the chance that she could convince Justin to drop by, but what incentive could she use…?


	2. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Students were partying together tonight, in the spirit of international cooperation. Harry beamed at this, determined to not lose his new friend Alex. He smiled encouragingly at her, and ran off to find Dumbledore. He watched as Mr. Crouch congratulate Justin, but listened as the old man scolded him for selecting his sister. Apparently, the hardened judge had his own list that Justin should have used. Harry shook his head disbelievingly. The old man had hounded the champions every step of the way. He wished Percy could have been there instead.

The party was one to remember. There was an official feast, an official party for the champions, and then there were the underground parties. Griffindor tower had a hole the size of a griffon. The house elves were running around frantic, but excited to serve.

Harry did not let the night slip by. Ginny was proud of him for getting the ball, and told him he could win it back in the maze. Then she lead him to the floor, and they danced. The theme was masks that night. He put one on, which did little to disguise him because everyone recognized him anyway. Justin had the same problem. Everyone was pulling him aside and wanted to share something with him. A rowdy yell came as a beautiful girl with ink-black curly hair and full lips pulled the Wiz-tech champion down for some tonguing, then disappeared. Justin looked shocked. People patted him on the back.

A girl wearing Alex's dress, with shocking red hair and pale white skin walked up to Harry, hesitating to do the same. Ron was cheering in the background, oblivious to what was happening in his friend's head. Time slowed, the only sound was the beating of his heart, and the sound of the girl's breathing. Her eyes were so familiar, and his heart beat out its love in his ears. There was no name, no memory, just the distance between his lips and her, and the reason she was lengthening the distance.

Screw the rules, he told himself. It worked in the past, right? He pulled her in a full kiss, cherishing the taste. He grabbed her arms with surprising force. He would not let her go. Her breaths came frantic, and rapid on his cheek, and her chest against his. When he released, he pulled the girl to the edge of the room, away from the spectators. His was aware, vaguely, a smug look on Hermione's face. He had told his friend that Ginny was a friend, and that 'brotherhood' with Ron made it impossible to start anything either.

His hand gripped the ring on the 'mystery girl's' finger. Technically, he had no idea who the girl behind the white mask was. She had not said anything, nor had he. And Ron was shouting some pretty crude ideas at the lovers' backs, which were ignored, then interrupted by Hermione.

It was too short a night for the boys at Hogwarts.

Alex checked her reflection in the mirror. Tonight was going to be amazing. Ginny had swapped dresses but Alex did not mind. The lighter colors meant she would be harder to recognize. She reached into her bag and pulled out a mask.

Tonight was going to be amazing. She had already changed the theme from 'sucks to be you' to 'masks and mystery' for her own reasons. Justin would never know what hit him. The girl reclined in her chair, watching the other girls in the Vanity Room use magic on themselves and their clothes. The mass-cloned masks needed to be individualized.

A stab of jealousy flooded the Russo as she listened to a couple of Ravenclaw girls discuss Justin. He was but a prize to be won, and that probably did not matter to him. Women had always been her brother's weakness.

Tonight's prank was going to make it all worthwhile. She was going to find a way to get Justin a mystery girl who he would pursue to the ends of the wizard world, but never find. Alex, Ginny, and Hermione did a round-robin make-over. They started with Hermione, knowing she would take the longest. And she was the longest… to break down and admit she liked a boy. Knowing that the champions would be waiting dutifully, Alex and Ginny both took their time.

When she was finished, but not prepared to go, Ginny turned to Alex, a look of terror in her eyes. Without even stealing a glance, Alex finished putting in her earrings, assured Ginny she would be the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen, and left.

Justin was sitting outside the party with his head in his hands muttering to himself. If Dumbledore had not locked the trophy room, it was likely he and Cedric would both be there. She kissed the back of his neck, and lured him into the party.

He danced with her, and held her tightly. She lost herself to the music, and the feeling of belonging. Tonight, he was hers, and no one else had him. And she was his to, and that did not bother her. She felt a burning rush every time they touched.

Then everything was ruined. Dumbledore's phoenix patronus showed up, summoning Justin and his family to the headmaster's office. He rushed away, knowing that he would only be called if there was a huge emergency.

Sure enough, by the time Alex and Justin reached the headmaster's office, their parents were there. Mrs. Russo was sobbing hysterically, and Mr. Russo stopped comforting her to talk to his son. Alex could not hear everything, but the words 'love' and 'family' filtered through, his wife through herself into Justin. Max and Alex exchanged worried glances. They had never seen their parents so worried.

Apparently they were there because some Rita woman was writing about the champions. Harry and Cedric both sat themselves next to Justin, who was reading through the article. Alex had no idea what was so important. She did not read the newspaper (reading, ugh) or see what Harry's orphan status made for an important article.

"Almost all the champions are orphans, Viktor's parents lost their lives due to fall out from Grimwauld, Cedric lost his parents in the Wizard War, Mr. Phoenix was been in and out of homes for years…." It was at this point that he broke off, because Justin was frowning at something.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Justin?" Alex asked, confused.

There was an uncomfortable silence broken by Max. He dropped the bomb on her, "Justin's adopted."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 6 Fallout

Harry did not know what to say. He watched as Alex and Justin both had their particular meltdown. The girl was furious, and almost uncomprehend able. Justin just slouched, and fiddled with his ring. Max was not very surprised. Dumbledore, to Harry's amazement, was staring at Justin.

"But you knew this already didn't you?" He asked. His x-ray eyes focused itself on the young wizard, who averted his gaze and shifted in his seat. Alex was making biting remarks on the 'golden child' when she heard the hoarse whisper of her… whatever he was now. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears, pouring down her cheeks which had reddened with anger. Her fists clenched as Justin cleared his throat, and replied.

The fighting in the background died as the boy answered slowly, "It was the competition, Alex, I, I lost my memories. My memories of my family… then it came to me, a house, a beautiful manor. I was in the corner being told how amazing my father was. He was a wizard. Then a man came, and took me away, I was given to…" he quieted himself, "That's why I went on the world tour, to get an idea of where I-"  
>He was cut off by Alex, who threw herself into his arms.<br>"I don't care, I don't care who you are, or what you've done. But please, please, please don't leave me," she begged, tears falling down her cheeks. Dumbledore looked uncomfortable. It took a second, but Justin wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close. The rest of the world did not seem to exist outside of the hug.

Harry and Cedric were dismissed. There was no way the evening had any chance of improvement. By now the parties were winding down. Tomorrow, the judges, headmaster of each school, Mr. Crouch, and the cup itself, would choose a victor in the tournament. Cedric had bags under his eyes, and was very pale. He was muttering to himself about winning. It occurred to Harry that Voldemort just wanted to kill as many of the children that had survived his rise to power as possible. Alex had to be better by tomorrow, she was competing.

After bidding Cedric goodnight, Harry climbed into bed, knowing full well Voldemort was closer than ever, and, chances were, would rise to power again tomorrow.

The young boy pretended that the last thought as he drifted off to sleep was not that Voldemort would return to power tomorrow.

He also pretended that he did not hear Alex and Justin climb into bed together.

Alex was roaming the halls of the school. It felt as though no matter how far she ran, she would always find herself in a situation where everything was her fault. How did Rita know a secret about Justin that his own sister, or at least the girl raised with him, did not? Max would not tell her, even if he did, chances were she would not have believed him. Of course, this was her fault too. If she had not wished her parents had never met, Justin would not have lost all memory of his family. And then he would not have left, and he would have been there for her getting teased and… The guilt trip did letter to assuage her conscience. Alex halted, and slumped against a wall.

"I won't have to take you to the headmaster's office again, do I?" said a familiar voice. Alex looked up to see Justin. She smiled weakly. He picked her up, and carried her back to his room with Harry, and tucked her in. It was only when she was sure he would not leave that she allowed herself to fall asleep.

The next morning, she was dressed in purple spandex, and Justin in his gray. It was sad to think that yesterday she had a brother, and now she had a partner.

They were assaulted by a flurry of questions, some were pretty insulting.

"Do you think that he is just doing this to shame you, Alex?"

"You're not that good at magic, did he only invite you to ensure he could stay in the family?"

"Taylor or Demi?"

"Are you a whore?"  
>Justin paused to rebuke the man, but Alex stopped him. She pulled him down into a fierce hug determined to give them something to write about. She did not remember jumping on him, or wrapping her legs around him, but she did notice when his mouth opened in an 'O' and received her tongue.<p>

"Any questions?" She demanded.

Chapter 7 The Final Challenge

"Ready, set, Magic!" A bang from Dumbledore's wand signaled the beginning or the race through the maze.

The champions took off.

It took a couple of minutes, but after deciding he could not use the ball, he gave it to Alex. She felt the weighted thing again, and after a moment's indecision, said something neither of them had considered.

"This is a fake," she said with a certainty. It took only moments for her to determine who had taken it in the first place. "Harry…"

Whatever vengeance she had planned was cut off when Fleur decided to attack Justin from behind. With a bang, he went flying through the air, landing roughly on his left arm.

"We shall see, monsieur, how you do when you are not attacking little girls from behind!" She screamed, then moved in to finish him off.

Harry felt a burning guilt. Cedric had told him how important it was to win. And now they were cheating to get to the center quicker. With every step, it felt like Voldemort was getting closer and closer. His scar went from a slight prickling to a burning sensation. When the cup came into sight, he felt as though his head was about to explode.

"Let's do it together, Harry!" Cedric whispered. He was mad with excitement.

"No, you go on without me," He moaned weakly. His friend grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him closer and closer to the cup.

"Relashio!" Harry screamed, stumbling away. A curse hit him, and blood shot out of his mouth, onto the cup and Cedric, who was now holding it.

Cedric staggered away, ball in the cup, determined to win. He stumbled between Justin and Fleur, who looked like they wanted to kill one another. Cedric's eyes flashed red. He sent an unbelievably powerful redactor charm at the group, then staggered away. He lost himself in a maze, Harry desperate to catch him. Then the older wizard stumbled wearily to a stand-still.

It was almost picturesque; the pale skin, the drained expression, way the last exhalation of Cedric's breath curled upward. His eyes were hollow and lost.

At first, nothing happened, then a boiling liquid raised itself from inside the cup. It frothed to and fro, and Cedric looked paler the more it bubbled. It seemed to suck out something important from within him. Cedric looked at Harry with fear.

Then he keeled over, dead.

A naked, ugly figure erupted from within the cup.

"Hello, Harry Potter," Rumbled the voice of the resurrected Voldemort, "Are you ready to die?"

Chapter 8 Alex and Harry

Alex was pale. She had disarmed Gabrielle quickly, and safely subdued her. But her brother was far different. She would never have believed he could fight like this, at least, not without reason. He was combating the French girl with an unknowable ferocity. It suddenly made sense to Alex how foolish her desire to compete was. These two were far out of her league. They were focused, determined, and precise.

Justin summoned a serpent, and used an engorgement charm to make it larger. Fleur transfigured rock into a mouse, which distracted the snake from attacking her. She shot a stream of water from the tip of her wand, freezing it into icicles, and launching the missiles at her opponent. Alex duck for cover behind Justin, who had used earth magic to create a rock shield. He launched his defense at his opponent, who gracefully leapt over it. Fleur countered with a bombardment charm, hurtling orbs of explosive magic at the Russos. The Wiz-tech champion countered with a bombardment charm. Explosions more powerful than grenades erupted between the two. Justin and Fleur were battling to the death. All around them lay dead and dying monsters who had the mistake of trying to get between the two.

So focused were they that If it was not for the intervention of Cedric, somebody would have died. He rushed into the clearing, red eyes flashing, projection a shield charm. Justin had thrown Alex out of the way of the explosions.

"Time to go," He hissed, then ran out of the maze she followed the sounds of screaming. Harry may have stolen the ball from them, but he was her friend. If he was dying, she would help him. Then found the Cup. According to the rules, (Justin had told her) if the person who took the Goblet first place could not be ruled victor, then the person who carried it out would win. The screams silenced, so he was either fine, or dead already. Alex shrugged, she took off, cup in hand the finish. She staggered out, only to be met with wild applause. Applause she totally deserved.

"Great job, Alex," Hollered her father, "I'm so proud of you!"

Nothing could have brought her down.

Cedric was dead, and Harry was dying.

"Ah, Harry, I have so much to thank you for; First, for showing me the error of my ways. I see now that my reign of terror would not have profited me for very long. It took the hope of a newborn to change things," Seeing the confused look on Harry's face, Voldemort chuckled, "I see Dumbledore has hidden much from you. Yes, well, second, I owe you for pushing Cedric beyond his limits. He poured so much into the competition, so much into me, that I had enough strength to leave its confines, oh…" His toes felt the grass, "You shall die by the hand of the heir of Slytherin. Crucio!" He spit the curse with venom enjoying the way Harry rolled around on the ground. He screamed it again. "Well, that was enough for now. Silence! I must kill you, but I tire of listening to screams for mercy. Avada Kevadra!"

Harry used his disarming charm. The beams met in the center, with the green light easily over-powering the red. They both gritted their teeth, doing their best to force the other to die. The red and green turned golden, with a massive ball forming in the middle. It grew larger and larger, only adding to the fear growing in Harry's stomach. Lines of power exploded from the stream.

"Why won't you die?" The older wizard screamed. The ball kept growing.

Harry closed his eyes, flashing back to what Justin had told him last summer in Mr. Weasley's tent, "Don't forget, ever, that other wizards can over-power you," He accentuated his point by rolling the ball around on the paddle, "The important point here is that you understand _how_ the magic works. Don't use power, use determination and a spin it until it works. Once you understand what the magic does, intuitively, that gives you an edge over me. I have am more intelligent than Alex, but she's a better wizard," Harry focused on the whirling of the ball, remembering how he had learned to compensate for Justin's superior strength and skill by putting spin on the golden orb. He had focused on the way the paddle felt when the balls hit it… Spin, he thought to himself, focusing on the orb. It started to whirl, illuminating a confused look on Voldemort's face.

The resulting explosion rocked the hedges.

Harry blacked out.

Chapter Nine

Justin and Alex were waiting expectedly outside the maze. _Harry has to be okay_, Alex thought to herself, because there was no way she would leave a friend in need to die. Her parents were hugging her. Max was off, trying to talk to Justin. They were not getting along. Justin stayed to himself, and Max kept trying to get him open. The Russo parents were trying to ignore the hurt in the arms of their daughter. What hurt the most was that Justin jogged back into the hedge. Alex blocked out what that meant, focusing instead on her father.

"We are so proud of you. You can do anything you want, be the family wizard, be the headmaster of Wiz-tech, anything at all," She looked down, not sure if he was right. Whose fault was it but hers that Justin was leaving the family? She had picked up the cup to win, but she had not found Harry, or stuck with Justin, who had tackled her seconds before the Diggory boy had attacked them. He father raised her chin, looking into her soft eyes, "Who says you don't have star potential? Who says you aren't presidential? You are my daughter, and nothing will ever detract from…" Harry interrupted Mr. Russo by bursting out of the hedge, cradling Cedric's arms between himself and Justin. Harry was covered in blood, mud, and sweat. His uniform was ripped across he shoulders, his glasses were askew.

Justin must have been gone longer than she realized, or he had sustained more damage than she realized. One of his eyes was swollen shut. He too, had blood matting his uniform, and his left side was speckled with mud, and dust stuck to his head. Alex felt like sifting her hands through it. She resisted it. The cheers redoubled. Wiz-tech and Hogwarts students alike sent bangs into the air, celebrating a the champions working together.

Alex knew Harry should have felt relief. He had been real worried about his performance in the tournament. But the look on his face was… agony. Justin was stony, so, not much of a change there. Harry was sobbing, and the older wizard put his hand on the younger's head. Alex could see Cedric was in bad shape, but surely…

When she saw he was not breathing, she let out a scream. The applause died out, professors and judges rushing forward to help. Dumbledore removed Harry, shoving him into the hands of Mad-eye.

Mr. Crouch pulled Justin away. Harry was sobbing hysterically. Alex ran after Justin, her safe place, leaving behind her family, and pursuing something she could not know.

She found him in the castle, in the trophy room, again. The two wizards were having a heated argument. Dumbledore appeared beside her.

"Barty, it's time Mr. Russo here knew what you have been up to," The judge adjusted his bowler cap, "Oh? Silent now? Allow me to explain. This started a generation ago, when Voldemort received news of one who would fell the heir of Slytherin. This special child was of importance to him. But which child was it? There were so many orphans. So, he left instructions to the death-eaters in the ministry to keep their eyes on children registered for Hogwarts. Every wizard would be important. Nevertheless, when he was stopped by Mr. Potter, you took on the task of keeping an eye on the children, and keep your fellow death-eaters out of prison. Thus you had the list of orphans, and cross-referenced it and put it into the cup. Then, you got your hands on it, as a judge, you convinced me to hold the tournament again, knowing that the adopted children would make easy prey. When Sirius Black got the letter from Harry, it went through the auror's office. It would have been easy for you, then man who through him into prison in the first place to get your hands on his mail. That was the piece of paper that came out of the Cup. Then your master told you to get the children to put their energy and emotions into the tournament. I wonder how far you pushed Mr. Diggory, what lies you spewed to convince him to put more of himself into the competition than into faith in himself."

He paused here to glare at Mr. Crouch, who had brought dementors with him. Justin looked pale. They were sucking the life left in him out. He was crying, looking desperately to Alex. The judge drew a knife across his captive's throat. Dumbledore continued.

"I should have this coming. Voldemort has been banished only in the sense that he cannot enter the grounds of Hogwarts, he can always hitch a ride. And the Goblet, a powerful magical object would bring him in undetectable. He fed off emotions for months. And tonight, well, he used Harry's blood to reveal himself. I will be taking you down though. I always feel bad when someone dies…" there was a second long pause, then an explosion of magic. Mr. Crouch exploded into black goo, a phoenix and wolf glowing silver annihilated the dementors, Justin was put to sleep, cleaned, and levitated out of the room. Crouch's bowler hat hit the floor. "And Miss Russo? Justin does not know who he is right now, but if you will show him what you know, we will all rest easier."

She left him to his musings.

Chapter Ten Traitor Revealed

Ginny had been holding him, he remembered that. Ron and Hermione pulled Harry off Cedric. The scar on his head exploded as his told the headmaster what had happened. Then he had been pulled into Griffindore tower, where every one of his housemates decided to sleep in the common room with him. Ginny curled next to him, and Ron could not bring himself to object, or comment on the fact Harry fell asleep sobbing.

The next day was anything but calm. Rita displaced Alex kissing Justin with the return of the Dark Lord. There was also a report detailing the missing Bartholomew Crouch, but no mention as to how that happened. Harry looked up and down the halls of Hogwarts, unsure of where he was going from here. Snape was afraid, and called him into the headmaster's office. Sirius was there with news. He promised to finally reveal why he had betrayed the Potters. He hugged Snape, then turned to his estranged godson.

"Harry, we need to talk about Voldemort's soul…" he said, holding up his family's locket, "It all started with my little brother…."

Alex stared into space, reminiscing on her kissing Justin. It made her warm, and the days seemed unnaturally cold.

"I love you," A voice whispered, "And I will be returning next year."

Justin did not leave her, would not leave her.

Yet.

A.N. I hope you enjoyed this story. See if you can't spot some quotes. About the story, I wanted to do something surprising. It frustrates me that J.K. keeps us in the dark, then goes, "Oh, by the way, Voldemort's soul can possess people from a book , and he just left this with the most pretentious of wizards. Oh, and he can comeback as a baby, then make himself a body. Even though, he, you know, friggin' exploded!" Yeah, it makes sense when explained, but c'mon! I am supposed to just figure out that Moody is not Moody?

So frustrating… nevertheless, I did not like Mr. Crouch, but I thought it was a nice explanation for why so many death-eaters are still roaming the streets of Britain. Now, you are probably wondering why Sirius is a hugging his enemy. Well, in this story… there is no explanation. There's one in the next story though…

Coming soon: the horcrux hunt and Justin's true nature…


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